The problem that this paper seeks to address is ostensibly a simple one: why did the Irish Supreme Court dramatically reverse its long-term stance between 1990 and 2003, with regard to the sanctity of the family unit, including that of non-Irish nationals who had children in Ireland, to adopt one emphasizing the sanctity of state sovereignty? The answer, it is argued, requires looking at a complex matrix of interlocking sociological factors including a rise in asylum applications from Nigeria, a decline in the power of the Catholic church, the emergence of the Celtic Tiger economy, a shift in the meaning of Irish nationalism, and finally the interests and world-view of the Irish judicial doxa.